The purchase will enable ICE to
bolster its fixed income capabilities
within its data and technology structure as it continues to expand into
the asset class.

Virtu Financial inherited BondPoint
following its $1.4 billion merger with
KCG earlier this year, although the
firm made its intentions to offload
the platform clear after looking to
streamline the business.

ICE won its bid to buy BondPoint
fighting off competition from other
fixed income venues including MarketAxess and Tradeweb.

“Following a competitive process,
ICE distinguished itself as a strong
and stable global organisation that
could provide the best home for
BondPoint, its customers, and its
employees,” he added.

CEO at ICE, Jeff Sprecher, also
commented that the purchase of
BondPoint will allow ICE to continue
to innovate in fixed income as the
markets continue to evolve.

“We look forward to welcoming
the BondPoint team to ICE, and
supporting solutions that enable our
customers to transact with confidence in an increasingly transparent,
automated and data-driven marketplace,” he said.

The European Commission and the derivatives regulator
in the US have agreed on terms,
which will see mutual recognition of trading venues weeks
before MiFID II.

The decision ensures some
trading venues in the US will
gain equivalence for MiFID II
rules and platforms in Europe
can offer services to counterparties in the US.

EU counterparties will be able
to trade derivatives subject to MiFID II trading rules on regulatory
swap execution facilities (SEFs)
and designated contract markets
(DCMs) venues in the US.

The European Commission and
the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) explained
the ruling does not affect EU
counterparties trading on venues
for derivatives not subject to
MiFID II trading obligation.

“European firms can continue
trading in derivatives on US
trading platforms and effectively hedge against risk, setting
conditions for stronger growth
in Europe,” said Valdis Dom-brovskis, European Commission
vice-president in charge of financial stability.

“On the other hand, US firmscan hedge their exposures on EUplatforms, facilitating trade andexchange between the EU andthe US.”A ‘common approach’ was firstannounced in October when theCFTC recommended an order ofexemption from its SEF registra-tion requirements for multilat-eral trading facilities (MTFs)and organised trading facilities(OTFs) in the EU.

Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the CFTC, welcomed
the Commission’s decision on
equivalence for US trading
venues regulated by the CFTC,
adding it is essential to ensuring
a strong and stable trans-Atlantic
derivatives market.

The decision represents the
third time both bodies have been
able to reach equivalence agreements; first in 2016 with respect
to central clearinghouses, earlier
this year with respect to margin
requirements for uncleared
swaps and most recently with
trading venues.

If you’re interested in this, turn
to page 48 for a deeper look into
this issue.